Illinois’ Commercial Solar Segment Gets Boost From Walmart, Sam’s Club

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Illinois has been in the news a lot over the past year, touting its solar revolution as started by the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016. Heck, even SolarWakeup got in on the act, holding one of its prized SolarWakeup Live! events there to celebrate. And while much of the hype has been anticipatory, there are real successes going on, too. And one such success is that 19 Walmart and Sam’s Clubs stores will be adding solar to their rooftops by the end of 2019. For those of you who don’t know, both Walmart and … Read More →

The Energy Show: High Electric Bill? – Consider These Money Saving Tips

[

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon People complain about their high electric bill almost as often as they complain about the price of gas. And for two good reasons. First, utilities consistently raise their electric rates — not only for inflation, but also to increase their profits. So even if you don’t change your habits, your electric bills will generally keep increasing (like my waistline). Depending on where you live, these rate increases can average 3% -7% per year. The second reason is that we are using more and more electricity. Our 21st century lifestyle is much more energy intensive: … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for November 16th, 2018

Opinion

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Education Is The Key To Solar Support

By Tony Clifford, CDO of Standard Solar We often talk about how popular solar is, and poll after poll after poll continues to prove it. Polls consistently show overwhelming popular support for solar, and it’s not even close. The latest survey, a messaging poll by Global Strategy Group on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association, adds more fuel to the fire. It turns out that no matter what side of the political divide you are on, you support solar—as long as you are educated about the benefits and strengths of it as an electricity source. For example, the survey … Read More →

Magnificent Minnesota: Study Says 70% Renewables By 2050 Within Reach

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Most solar observers who look at the Midwest and identify what state leads that group of states almost inevitably settle on Minnesota as the far-and-away leader. (Here’s the obligatory note suggesting that Illinois is hot on Minnesota’s tail and that it had better keep moving forward if it wants to remain the name on everyone’s lips when it comes to a Midwestern solar leader). But the Land of 10,000 Lakes (which is actually closer to 15,000, but who’s counting?) is well known for its progressive solar policy, particularly when it comes to community solar, where … Read More →

GI Energy Files Objection To Confusing New York Energy Storage Rules

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent New York has developed something of an inferiority complex about its renewable energy and storage market. They ceded leadership first to New Jersey, then Vermont (yes, VERMONT, of all places) and now Massachusetts gets the majority of headlines in the Northeast. So New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, no shy retiring flower himself, has made it his life mission to seize back the headlines from his fellow Northeastern states by setting aggressive goals for both renewable energy and storage growth – and he’s not hesitant to tell anyone who is listening how fantastic his plan is … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for November 15th, 2018

Let Mayors Help You. Mayors want to do big things because at the city level, big doesn’t take a lot. I’ve passed plenty of policy through the local council and that is where the solar industry should go more often. Let’s get some bright minds in solar together and draft the resolutions that are important in a State, take those resolutions and put them in your hands so that you can show it to your Mayor. Overnight, we’d be on the agenda for hundreds of municipalities and doing some important work at the local level. Solar permitting perhaps?
Be Aware Of Bad Solar. Florida will be ground zero for this, plenty of people want to make money overnight. Having spent the past 4 months talking to installers across the Country, I share their frustration about bad actors in solar because homeowners always call the right contractor after something has gone wrong. I don’t say this with bias, but you can tell a lot about a contractor by what type of solar mounting hardware they use. 
Let’s Make A Deal. Will folks in Arizona make a deal around an RPS type structure? I am surprised at the headline given how handily APS won the ballot amendment, I would have thought they would be entrenched in doing nothing. 
Alanis Would Be Proud. The irony is thick as the oil coming out of the ground. But when the land is available and the sun is shining, why not use solar energy to pull dead dinosaurs from the ground. Obviously add some energy storage to ensure top notch power quality and your solar power oil pump is ready to go!
Here We Go Again. Initial reports are coming in about the cause of the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA. The fire that has claimed more than 8,500 homes and 250 businesses. It has burned over 110,000 acres and is the deadliest fire in California history. According to those reports, power lines could be the reason that the fire initially started, a topic that was loudly debated in the California legislature this summer. 

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Canadian Solar Is Betting On Bifacial Modules In U.S. Market

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent In light of other solar industry news on the policy side, it’s easy to forget the hardware portion of the industry is still chugging along despite the obstacles put in front of them like tariffs and other chicanery by policymakers beholden to the fossil fuel interests. But innovations are still going on in the module market, including bifacial modules. Bifacial (literally: two faces) solar modules can generate energy not only from the front side, but from the back side as well. The sunlight on the ground is reflected to the glass-covered back side of the … Read More →

More Than 200 Mayors Join Group’s Efforts To Support Solar Energy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent With a decided lack of leadership at the national level on moving clean energy policy forward – and in some cases taking significant steps backward instead – the power to affect change in environmental policy necessarily is defaulting to the city and state level. That’s why the latest numbers from Environment America’s Research and Policy Center’s announcement yesterday that more than 200 mayors across the United States – 216 in fact – have signed its letter calling for more solar energy is such an exciting development. Even more exciting is the fact that the signatories … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for November 14th, 2018

Your Help Is Still Needed. Dozens of solar workers have lost their homes due to the fire north of Sacramento. CALSSA has set up a donation page and your generosity is greatly appreciated, any amount helps get solar pros that lost everything back on their feet. 
I’ll Take The Usual. Can’t argue with the data on new generation, solar and wind are the default fuel when it comes to every day interconnections. The issue sits with the existing portfolio of generating capacity especially within ratebased portfolios at the utilities across the Country. A lot of the portfolio is not that old either, which means replacing it will take decades unless regulatory oversight chooses to sunset the plants early. That being said, that would require an insane increase of solar generation to be built including distributed resources that likely includes power dense fuel cell or generating equipment alongside TWh of storage. Point is, it’s doable but difficult to execute within today’s regulatory environment. 
Fight For Your States’ Rights. Here is your typical letter from 5 State Attorneys General saying that they will fight for clean energy if the Trump administration tries to slow the progress. One of those AGs works in a State (MD) that has a republican Governor. Reality is that this is not typical but notable progress for the clean energy issue to be taken up within a week of the election. Yesterday, a climate change sit-in happened in Nancy Pelosi’s office and Congresswoman-elect Ocasio Cortez joined in. More to come on the creation of the Select Committee on Climate Change. 
The Almighty Pricing Signal. Locational pricing, short term pricing, and anything that else that allows intermittent and solar plus storage to create revenues without offtake agreements would be the fastest way to increase adoption of solar. The reason is that it decreases the gap between PPA and default scenario. It also eliminates some of the risk for post term energy valuation in qualifying facilities. How to make this happen however…
It’s Not What, It’s How. I see plenty of articles about solar on farm land across America. Illinois has this conversation right now and I discussed this with Jon Carson of Trajectory Partners. The key in my opinion is not that NIMBYism on the solar farm but the desire for neighbors to know who will be their neighbor during construction and for the next 25+ years. If the development team does it properly during the initial process, they are much more likely to be successful. 
Making Utility Changes (Staffing Update). RMI and Advanced Energy Economy are out with a report on the future business models for utilities. Also of note, former SEIA Chairman, Nat Kraemer, was announced as the new CEO of Advanced Energy Economy this week. 
Be Subscribed. Good reminder to make sure that your colleagues are subscribed to this newsletter. They can do it with an email by clicking here. 

News

Have a great day!
Yann